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Kellie Pickler
| died= | hometown= Albemarle, North Carolina | knownfor= Country singer | season= Dancing with the Stars 16 | partner= Derek Hough | place= 1 | highestscore= 30 (Argentine Tango, Quickstep, Freestlye & Instant Jive) | lowestscore= 21 (Cha-Cha-Cha) | averagescore= 27.4 }} Kellie Dawn Pickler is the winning celebrity from Season 16 of Dancing with the Stars. Early Life Pickler was born at Stanly Memorial Hospital in Albemarle, North Carolina, a small town near Charlotte, to Cynthia Morton and Clyde "Bo" Raymond Pickler, Jr. Her mother left when Kellie was two years old, then returned and took custody of her for two years. After this, the court returned Kellie to her grandparents when she was twelve and they raised her to adulthood because her father was in and out of jail. Pickler says the major influences in her life are her grandfather, Clyde Raymond Pickler, Sr., a former electrician, and grandmother, Faye Pickler. Pickler graduated in 2004 from North Stanly High School in New London, North Carolina. She was a cheerleader and beauty queen. She sang "On the Side of Angels" by LeAnn Rimes at her high school graduation. She worked as a waitress at a Sonic Drive-In franchise and, in 2005, she made an appearance on WSOC-TV's Gimme the Mike! Charlotte contest. She finished in second place. She participated in the Miss America circuit and won the "Miss Stanly County" pageant at age seventeen and subsequently competed for Miss North Carolina 2004. American Idol The nineteen-year-old Pickler auditioned for American Idol in the fall of 2005 in Greensboro, North Carolina. She sang both Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone" and Martina McBride's "A Broken Wing". The judges sent her to Hollywood. Pickler advanced through the semi-final rounds in February. On 9 March, she reached the Top 12. Pickler was among judge Simon Cowell's favorites. He once predicted Pickler would be in the final three, and said he preferred her over the previous season's winner, Carrie Underwood. Recognized for her "quirky" personality and Southern charm, Pickler gained attention on the show by saying that she had hardly ever performed before real audiences, and by mispronouncing words. She was compared to Jessica Simpson in a 27 March story in US Weekly magazine titled "Kellie: The Next Jessica Simpson", due to her "sweet Southern style and ditzy demeanor". Pickler has stated several times that she was not heavily exposed to modern pop culture. Pickler made it to the Top 6, but was then eliminated. Career After her elimination, she appeared in numerous shows promoting the TV show and performed the song "Walkin' After Midnight" in some of her appearances. On 6 May 2006, she returned to Albemarle, North Carolina, for a parade and a reunion with her father. She received a key to the city from the mayor of Albemarle. The mayor also proclaimed the day as "Kellie Pickler Day". Pickler also received numerous awards from local and statewide government officials praising her accomplishments as a contestant on the American Idol television show. Pickler pursued her recording aspirations in Nashville, Tennessee, shortly thereafter. On 17 July 2006, she signed a record deal with 19 Recordings/BNA Records. She later announced it herself on The View. She was part of the American Idols LIVE! Tour 2006, performing for three months in various cities. During that period, Pickler worked on her album in collaboration with top industry experts in different cities wherever the tour took her. Small Town Girl Her first single, "Red High Heels", debuted 13 September 2006, and its music video was officially released 20 October 2006. It received a nomination for the CMT Video Awards for "Breakthrough Video of the Year". Her debut album, Small Town Girl, released 31 October 2006, topped Billboard's Top Country Albums and landed at number nine on the Billboard 200 selling over 79,000 copies in its first week, making Pickler the highest-selling first-week sales for a new artist in 2006. The album includes five songs that Pickler co-wrote with songwriters Chris Lindsey, Aimee Mayo, and Karyn Rochelle. On 18 January 2007, Pickler co-hosted The View and was presented with a gold record by Rosie O'Donnell, certifying that her album had reached the 500,000 sales mark. She also performed her second single, "I Wonder", which is a personal song about her absent relationship with her mother, Cynthia Morton. It was the first performance of the song on national television. Pickler was nominated for "Top New Female Vocalist" for the 42nd Academy of Country Music Awards. She was also part of Brad Paisley's "Bonfires & Amplifiers" concert tour from April 2007 through October as one of the opening acts. The tour was booked in at least 37 cities across North America including a couple of stops in Canada. Pickler appeared in country music artist Brad Paisley's music video "Online" in 2007. On September 2007, Pickler released a version of "Santa Baby" for a Christmas country compilation. A month later, at the ASCAP Awards in Nashville, Pickler received a songwriter award for co-writing "Red High Heels". She performed "I Wonder", at the 2007 CMA Awards. During the performance, she was visibly overcome with emotion and struggled to even finish the song before bursting into tears. The performance received a standing ovation. She was also nominated for the Horizon Award. The performance led her to receive three CMT awards the following April. Kellie Pickler While "Things That Never Cross a Man's Mind" was climbing the country charts (it eventually reached number sixteen), Pickler returned to the studio to record her second studio album for 19 Recordings/BNA Records. She performed the debut single, "Don't You Know You're Beautiful" at the ACM Awards 18 May 2008 and received a good response from the audience. She was nominated for "Top New Female Vocalist", but the award went to Taylor Swift. "Don't You Know You're Beautiful" was released to radio in June 2008 and was a Top 25 hit for Pickler, peaking eventually at number twenty-one. Her second album, Kellie Pickler, was released 30 September 2008 and debuted at the top of the country chart, as well as number nine on the Billboard 200, selling over 43,000 copies in its first week. It matched the debuting spots of her first album, Small Town Girl. On 12 November 2008, Pickler performed the second single from her album, "Best Days of Your Life", at the CMA Awards. She was also nominated for "New Artist of the Year" for the second year in a row, but lost to Lady Antebellum. "Best Days of Your Life" made its radio debut in November 2008, and debuted at number 56. The song climbed very slowly up the chart, but ended up becoming Pickler's first Top 10 hit on the Hot Country Songs chart. After nearly 40 weeks on the chart, the song peaked at number nine in August 2009. A music video was made by Roman White, featuring Taylor Swift, who co-wrote and sang background harmony vocals on the song. Pickler was nominated for "Female Video of the Year" at the 2009 CMT Music Awards for "Don't You Know You're Beautiful". She lost once again to Swift. She also presented the award for "USA Weekend Breakthrough Video of the Year" with Idol judge Randy Jackson. Pickler accompanied Swift on the first leg of her Fearless Tour 2009. In June, she launched her first ever headline concert tour in promotion of her self-titled album. It was announced 8 October that Pickler would be part of the second leg of Fearless Tour. "Didn't You Know How Much I Loved You", a re-recording from Pickler's first album Small Town Girl, was released as the album's third single 30 August 2009. The song debuted at number 55 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, and became her fifth Top 20 hit, peaking at number fourteen in February 2010. On 26 October, Pickler won the title of Country Weekly's poll of most beautiful woman in country music for the second year in a row. Reba McEntire and Carrie Underwood were the second and third places, respectively. "Makin' Me Fall in Love Again" was released as the album's fourth single 19 April 2010. It debuted at number 53 and peaked at number 30. 100 Proof It was announced that Pickler's third album would be produced by Frank Liddell, known for producing country artist Miranda Lambert's albums. "Tough" was released 13 June 2011 as the lead-off single to Pickler's third album, 100 Proof, which was released 24 January 2012. The album debuted at number seven on the Billboard 200 and at number two on the Top Country Albums chart. "Tough" reached a peak of number 30 on the Hot Country Songs chart, while the album's title track, which was released as the second single in April 2012, peaked at number 50 on the same chart. ABC News Radio reported 27 June 2012 that Pickler parted ways with Sony Nashville. Pickler's manager told ABC News Radio, "Kellie's contract with Sony came to an end and they mutually decided not to renew it". On 10 July 2012, she sang "God Bless America" during the seventh inning stretch at the 2012 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. CMT reported 8 October 2012 that Pickler had signed with the independent record label Black River Entertainment. The Woman I Am Pickler's first single with Black River Entertainment, "Someone Somewhere Tonight," was released 14 May 2013. After eight weeks, it reached a peak of number 49 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart in July 2013. "Little Bit Gypsy" was released 19 August 2013 as the second single from her forthcoming fourth studio album. Pickler's fourth album, The Woman I Am, was released 11 November 2013. Pickler wrote the title track with her husband, songwriter Kyle Jacobs. Philanthropy Pickler actively supports St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, where she helps raise funds and gives kids special visits. She also participates in charitable events to help raise funds for various organizations. She has performed to help raise funds for the "N.C. Children's PROMISE" to benefit the Children's Hospital on 12 November 2006, to help refurbish the Hurricane Katrina-damaged NFL Youth Education Towns Boys & Girls Club of New Orleans on 16 December 2006, visited St. Jude Children's Research Hospital on January 12, 2007, and visited Pennington Elementary School on 1 February 2007. "When you're able to give back to your communities and organizations like St. Jude, it's a great thing," Pickler said. "It's been a great experience, and I encourage anyone and everyone to help." Pickler participated with other country artists in an online auction for charity by Mario Magro: Kiss for a Cause Foundation Celebrity Auction held 15 to 25 June 2007, in support of orphaned and abandoned children. The event auctioned off celebrity lip prints and signatures pressed on the inside of Mario Magro Crystal Le Coop handbags at the 42nd Annual Academy of Country Music Awards. In November 2007, Pickler appeared on a celebrity edition of the quiz show Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?, playing for the charities of her choice, (American Red Cross and the AARP's Grandparenting Program). During the show she was asked to name the European country for which Budapest is the capital, to which she responded, "...I thought Europe was a country ...I know they speak French there." She chose the copy cheat, allowing her to go along with the 3rd grader's correct response of Hungary. She has participated in three USO tours. The first, in late 2007 and early 2008, took her to Iraq; the second, in December 2008, included stops in Germany, Afghanistan, Iraq, Kosovo, and England. In January 2010, Pickler made stops in Iraq and Kuwait on a ten-day tour with Randy Houser and Jamey Johnson. The three country stars "played remote bases on the front lines of the war zone, and the sound of gun fire became their frequent companion at night." In early August 2009, Pickler participated in ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and help with the rebuilding of James Terpenning's family home in Beavercreek, Ohio. Pickler performed a free concert at the home, and helped during reconstruction. Personal Life Pickler's mother was repeatedly charged with writing bad checks and was convicted in 1988 for passing a forged prescription for Valium at the Albemarle Wal-Mart, where she worked. The day after Pickler's second birthday, her parents split up. A year later, in July 1989, her mother vanished. During periods when her father, Bo, was incarcerated, she would live with her grandparents, outside Albemarle, which is 45 miles northeast of Charlotte. In 1992, Pickler's mother returned to Albemarle, but rarely made contact with Pickler. But in March 1995, with Bo Pickler in prison for armed robbery, her mother was granted custody. Pickler was in the fourth grade. "She got custody of me for two years," Pickler said in a February 2006 interview with The Observer. "During that time, she was physically and mentally abusive of me." In a 1997 court filing, Pickler's grandparents said that her mother had moved to Union County with the girl and treated the child harshly. The court restored custody to the grandparents. Her mother vanished again, and Pickler has not heard from her since. Her father, whom she describes as an alcoholic and drug addict, served a three-year, nine-month prison sentence at Florida State Prison for aggravated assault and battery stemming from a 2003 stabbing incident. He was released on May 6, 2006, a week after her elimination from Idol. In an April 2006 interview with NBC Pickler said, "One thing that's so important in life is we learn to forgive others. I ask the Lord every day to forgive me for my sins and for things that I've done wrong. And who am I to not forgive someone for what they've done?" ..."God tells us to love everyone." On 26 February 2007, she met her personal "idol" and strongest influence, Dolly Parton. The surprise was arranged by Sony BMG Nashville chairman Joe Galante. In 2007, Pickler was in a relationship with Nashville Predators player Jordin Tootoo and visited his family in Nunavut. Later that year, the two broke up. Pickler's best friend has been Summer Miller, who Pickler met when they were teen pageant hopefuls. Pickler is close friends with Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift, the latter of whom co-wrote Pickler's second single "Best Days of Your Life" from her album, Kellie Pickler, with her American Idol roommate Katharine McPhee, for whom she was a bridesmaid at McPhee's 2008 wedding. In June 2008, she joined Carrie Underwood, a long-time vegetarian, in giving up eating meat. Pickler says she first decided to go vegetarian for health reasons, but a TV ad that vegetarian Pamela Anderson did for animal rights group PETA piqued her curiosity. "One night I couldn't sleep and I was up and just Googling random stuff and I'm like, 'Hmmm, PETA.' I saw all the videos and I just thought it was horrible. It's animal cruelty. A lot of it has to do with knowing what happens to the animals and it really bothered me and so I will not eat meat." In May 2009, it was announced that Pickler was nominated for, and won, the title of "World's Sexiest Vegetarian" by PETA. After two and a half years of dating, Pickler became engaged to songwriter Kyle Jacobs 15 June 2010, the day of her late grandmother's birthday, after he proposed on a beach at sunset. Pickler related for a background piece on Dancing with the Stars that the couple had planned an elaborate ceremony, but as the date approached, "I looked at him and said, 'Baby, this ain't us." She and Jacobs eloped and married 1 January 2011 in a "small, intimate ceremony on a private island in the Caribbean." On 4 September 2012, Pickler shaved her head on Good Morning America in support of her friend, Summer Holt Miller, who started chemotherapy after breast surgery. In 2015, it was announced that Pickler and Jacobs would star in a thirteen-episode reality show for CMT entitled I Love Kellie Pickler. The show premiered 5 November 2015. Dancing with the Stars 16 On 21 May 2013, Pickler and Derek Hough were announced the winners of the sixteenth season of Dancing with the Stars. She performed a well-received super-sized freestyle, scoring a perfect 30 and garnered effusive praise from the dance judges. She performed "Little Bit Gypsy" on the 25 November 2013 episode in the seventeenth season. Scores 1Hough and Pickler chose Henry Byalikov and Anna Trebunskaya to dance with them on the "Side-By-Side" Challenge. 2The dancer Hough and Pickler chose for the Trio Challenge was Tristan MacManus. Gallery Kellie-derek.jpg Kellie and Derek S16 1.jpg Kellie.jpg 16Week 9-Flamenco-Derek-Kellie.jpg Season-16-mirror-ball.jpg Kellie-derek-trophy2.jpg Category:Champions Category:Contestants Category:Females Category:Season 16 contestants Category:Singers